Whiffletree



(No Model.) I

J. s. GEORGE. WHIPFLBTREE.

Patented June 16, 1896.

NAM. PHO'I'D-UTHuWEHINGTDH. D C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SCOTT GEORGE, OF MAYESVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

WHIFFLETREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 562,129, dated June 16, 1896.

Application filed March 26, 1896.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN Soorr GEORGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mayesville, in the county of Sumter and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and useful VVhiffletree, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in whiffletrees; and it has for its object to provide adevice of this character which is adapted to be either lengthened or shortened in order to permit the same being used under different conditions, and thereby overcoming the necessity for the use of more than one whiffletree.

To this end the invention consists substantially in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully illustrated, described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a whiffletree constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the extension-arm and the means employed for securing the same to the whiffletree.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the figures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a whiffletree which may be formed of any suitable material, and is provided at a point intermediate its ends with the usual clip 2 for attaching the whiffletree to a plow or vehicle to be drawn. At each end of the whiffletree 1 a skeleton extension arm 3 is disposed,

swhich arm is formed of a single piece, and

the ends thereof, at each side of its central portion, are bent at right angles to said central portion and then folded toward each other to provide parallel side pieces 4, the central portion forming a stop 5 for a purpose to be hereinafter stated. The end of each of the side pieces 4, opposite to the stop 5, is bent, as at 6, and pivoted between said bent portions, by means of a bolt 7, is a hook 8, adapted to receive one end of a set of traces and hold the same therein. It is to be noted that the point through which thebolt 7 passes is nearer the end of the side pieces 4 than the edges thereof, so that when the hook 8 is swung into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the traces may be either re- Serial No. 584,939. (No model.)

moved from or attached to such hook; but when the latter is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the same is locked and prevents the traces being withdrawn therefrom.

For securing the extension-arms 3 to the whiffletree U-shaped clamps 9 are employed. These clamps embrace the ends of the whiffletree, and the arms 3 are disposed between said whiffletree and the clamps 9, bolts 10 binding the clamps upon the whiffletree and thereby preventing the latter from weakening, as would be the case were holes formed therein for the reception of bolts and the like.

From the foregoing the advantages of the herein-described invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. If it be desired to lengthen the whiffletree, the bolts 10 are loosened, so as to release the clamps 9, when the extension-arms 3 may be moved outwardly from the ends of the whiffletree until limited by the stops 5 contacting with the clamps 9, the clamps 9 being then tightened on said ends, thus binding the arms 3 thereon. To shorten the whiffletree, it is simply necessary to reverse the operation just described, when the arms 3 will be placed in a position upon the whiffletree by which the length of the latter is diminished. It will therefore be seen that the necessity for more than one whiflietree, in connection with plows and the like, will be overcome, the present invention suflicing for different conditions of the work to be performed, and it is also 01)- vious that the extension-arms 3 may be readily applied to whiffletrees of the ordinary construction with but slight change in the latter. When the traces of a team are connected to the hooks 8, the stops 5 receive the direct strain incident to the tightening of said traces, said stops bearing against the whiffletree 1 and preventing any tendency of the extension-arms 3 to swing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. A whiffletree provided with extensionarms, and clamps for encircling the whiffletree and holding said extension-arms thereon, said clamps binding the extension-arms in close frictional contact with the whiffletree and also strengthening the latter, substantially as set forth.

hook pivoted in the other end, and a U -shaped clamp for securing the extension-arm upon the Whiffletree, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 15 the presence of two Witnesses. JOHN SCOTT GEORGE.

itnesscs:

O. L. COOPER, W. H. DEAN.

my own I have hereto affixed my signature in A 

